Violent clashes continue overnight in Turkey

Clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces continued in
Istanbul's Sultangazi neighbourhood on Saturday.

11:15AM BST 09 Jun 2013

Riot police deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse an angry crowd of about 200 who had gathered in this conservative area of Istanbul, inhabited mostly by Kurds and Alawites.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands marched in the central Taksim Square, where the protests initially started over development plans that would have replaced the square's park with buildings.

The protests were sparked by outrage over a violent police action to break up an environmental protest in Isanbul's Taksim Square on May 31, and have spread to dozens of cities across Turkey.

Three people have died - two protesters and a policeman - and thousands have been injured so far.

The protests have become a general condemnation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom many consider to have grown authoritarian in his 10 years in power, and accuse of trying to introduce his religious and conservative mores in a country governed by secular laws.